That made Yang a curious choice when the company's board tapped him to take over the top job last June from Terry Semel, analysts and former Yahoo employees said.
Unlike Semel, who was the company's charismatic face for five years, Yang is soft-spoken and cerebral. While Semel took heat for his $70-million annual compensation package, Yang opted for an annual salary of $1, joining Silicon Valley chiefs Steve Jobs at Apple Inc. and Eric Schmidt at Google Inc., according to Salary.com.
"It's a way of leading by example," said Bill Coleman, chief compensation officer at Salary.com.
Such gestures make Yang an iconic figure at Yahoo. Even so, he likes to walk around the Sunnyvale, Calif., offices in his khakis and cashmere sweaters, chatting with people.
Behind the friendly face, however, is a fierce intellect.
"He's stuck with his company every step of the way. And now that company is worth $44 billion. That's not an accident. Jerry has raw talent," said Vince Broady, who oversaw Yahoo's entertainment division until last year.
Yang also relishes a good rivalry.
"As quiet, humble and modest as he is, the guy wants to win," said Jim Brock, a former senior vice president of communications and consumer services.
In recent years, however, Yang has been watching his company lose ground to Google. Yahoo also failed to capitalize on the social networking phenomenon that catapulted websites such as MySpace and Facebook to popularity among a young, Web-savvy generation.
As Yahoo's fortunes slid, Yang took another hit, one that's more personal.
The Taiwanese-born Yang was visibly humbled in Congress when lawmakers in November called Yahoo executives moral "pygmies" for their decision in 2004 to turn over to Chinese police the names of journalists who had used Yahoo services to share material advocating democratic reform. The information led to the imprisonment of two Chinese journalists.
A week later, Yahoo announced it had reached an out-of-court settlement with the families of the two journalists involving a personal pledge from Yang to help free their sons.
Yang's efforts in turning around Yahoo also have not garnered praise.
"He's certainly a capable guy in terms of doing a start-up, but he hasn't demonstrated a capability to be the CEO of a company of the size and scope of Yahoo," said Rob Enderle, principal of the Enderle Group technology consulting firm in San Jose.
